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Spectroscopy of arcs in the rich cluster Abell 963

Ellis, Richard; Allington-Smith, Jeremy; Smail, Ian

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Authors

Richard Ellis

Jeremy Allington-Smith



Abstract

Spectra are presented for portions of the two arcs observed close to the dominant cD galaxy in the rich cluster Abell 963 (z = 0.206). The spectrum of the northern arc displays a strong emission line at 6600 Å which is seen along the entire arc. The feature cannot be understood unless the redshift is greater than that of the cluster, the most likely interpretation being [O II] 3727 Å at z = 0.771. The southern arc is considerably fainter and its spectrum shows no obvious features. However, new CCD photometry is consistent with a near-constant blue color ( B – R ~ 0.3) along both arcs, supporting the suggestion that they arise from the gravitationally lensed light of a background object. The optical and infrared color is consistent with a spiral galaxy undergoing strong star formation at this redshift. We discuss briefly the implication of this result, and the possible role lensing surveys may play in the study of high-redshift galaxies.

Citation

Ellis, R., Allington-Smith, J., & Smail, I. (1991). Spectroscopy of arcs in the rich cluster Abell 963. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 249(1), 184-190. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/249.1.184

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Mar 1, 1991
Deposit Date Nov 10, 2016
Publicly Available Date Nov 10, 2016
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN 0035-8711
Electronic ISSN 1365-2966
Publisher Royal Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 249
Issue 1
Pages 184-190
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/249.1.184

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Copyright Statement
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 1991 Royal Astronomical Society. Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data System. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.







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